


Drinking in the Dark

by gladsomemind



Series: Scenes From Lives Never Lived [3]
Category: Highlander: The Series, Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Canonical Hurt, Gen, M/M, Non-canonical Comfort, Virtual Band Aid, canonical non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 19:59:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15714066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gladsomemind/pseuds/gladsomemind
Summary: Post Duet Rodney gets a late night visitor.  What Adam Pierson is doing there is anyone's guess.





	Drinking in the Dark

A knock on the door was, quite possibly the last thing Rodney wanted. A call over the radio could be ignored, for the first page at least, but the manners ingrained by societal norms in his formative years meant the door had to be answered. Even if all he wanted to do was take a shower and sleep for a week. It didn’t matter who was on the other side he didn’t want to see them.

Teyla would look at him disapprovingly if she were the knockee. John would just think the door open. Which meant it probably wasn’t John as the door remained firmly closed.

Pulling his face into the best approximation of neutral he could pull off Rodney waved at the sensor to open the door. What he wasn’t expecting was Doctor Walker to be slouched against the wall opposite.

“Wasn’t sure you were up. Just thought you might like a drink.” Matching actions to words Walker held up a couple of bottles. “Can I tempt you with a nightcap Doctor?”

Rodney stepped back to allow the other man ingress shaken by the identity of his visitor and the offer. Carson had signed off on his release but hadn’t come by to check on him and beer was still a valuable commodity even with regular supply runs.

“What do I owe this pleasure to?” Rodney was still wary even if Walker’s voodoo was more GP then research. You went to Carson for gene therapy, or if you were the Head of Science, but to Walker if one of the marines got a little bruised during training or found a suspect rash. All the civilians on Atlantis wanted something from Rodney.

“Nothing really, you’ve had a day, just thought you could do with an opportunity to unwind. I’m experienced in being a silent drinking buddy; or a noisy one if you want me to enthral you with tales of bar-rooms the world over. Dealer’s choice.” He held up one of the bottles as if there was no other option than Rodney taking it, before looking round the room with intent - which probably meant there was a bet at his expense and Walker had been sent to get confirmation.

Yet all he did was grab the blanket from the bed and fold it onto the floor against the only open bit of wall. The slouch made a return as Walker deposited himself on the blanket patting the space beside him.

“Bottle opener?” At Rodney’s blank look Walker squirmed to get into his jeans pocket under the oversized sweater he was wearing. Bottle open he held it up to swap for the one Rodney was holding.

Giving into the inevitable, Walker didn’t look like leaving until after the beer, he swapped bottles - the other option of calling for some marines to come evict his unwanted guest not appealing for _all_ the reasons. Getting into position on the blanket wasn’t a masterclass in grace or elegance but Rodney managed to sit against the wall without spilling the beer.

Silence reigned for a few minutes while both men swigged from their bottles, before Walker stood with more dexterity than Rodney could ever hope to manage and turned off most of the lights – leaving only the light spilling from the bathroom to illuminate their session. Returning to the blanket he muttered something about darkness or sun before settling back down. It was five minutes and most of the bottle before Walker spoke again.

“I was working in Paris, helping in a bookstore while I worked on my degree. A friend of my… boss I suppose came through on his way to Prague. Between them Joe and Don felt I needed to get out and spend some time seeing something of the world rather than breathing in book dust. So I was temporarily reassigned to be Joe’s gofer.

“It was a nightmare.

“Joe used every trick in the book he knew to have me running all over collecting this and that, certainly carrying everything. We went by train, not flying so he had a lot of opportunity to make me suffer. What I didn’t know until later was that Don had called ahead and arranged a tour guide to the city. They were told that my greatest love, outside all the books obviously, was beer and the suggestion was made that I should be taken to sample some of Prague’s finest.

“Radek was as thorough then as now. If he was going to get stuck squiring some antisocial history nerd around he was going to do it right. Spent some time researching the beer making process and where the best brews could be found. I say he researched it for me; maybe it was the result of a personal vanity project. Anyway, we get to Prague and I’m immediately foisted off onto Radek who takes me to the city centre and tries to get me drunk. He didn’t succeed but he gave it one hell of a go. You’d have to ask him about his hangover but he didn’t surface until 3 the next day.

“We spent the next couple of days taking tours and taste testing. You know I should get with Radek and see if we can’t put that research into practice and come up with a better brew than the catering corps has managed. Even allowing for them being Americans theirs is a piss poor example of the brewer’s art.

“The night before Joe and I were supposed to leave we were told that we wouldn’t be drinking because we were all sitting down to dinner. If you ever get an invitation to eat with Radek’s family accept graciously and mind your manners. I can’t pronounce half of what we ate but just accept and be polite alright? After dinner we left the grownups talking and retired to Radek’s room and that’s all I’m saying. Other than there were many points we could have shut each other down and didn’t. Plus all that work on the history of beer needed to be rewarded even if it was as boring as… Anyway.” Walker lapsed into silence again.

“Joe’s business over we left the next day. Never heard about or saw Radek again until I was on my way on the Daedalus reviewing medical files. So, there’s the history. A pleasant interlude for all concerned. No grand passion, no broken hearts, just a sober one night’s stand after a few days drunken revelry. Does that assuage your fears Rodney?”

Rodney just nodded, closed his eyes and leant his head back against the wall, hugging his empty bottle to his chest. Walker pushed up from his slouch beside Rodney to hug his knees, giving Rodney more space and reducing the intimacy of the connection between them in the dark - allowing Rodney to ask the question that had been bugging him.

“Why?”

Walker didn’t pretend not to understand. This wasn’t the right situation for that, for which Rodney was grateful.

“Because. It’s the same reason, the same answer to that question throughout history. Because they could. It wasn’t about you. It’s rarely about the…well. It’s because there was no-one to stop them. The opportunity was there and they took it. Regret, guilt, you name it weren’t there in the moment just a bill that may or may not come due in the future. Sorry, I have no better answer.”

“What do I do?”

Walker sighed. “I have only one, three, pieces of advice. _Live, grow stronger, fight another day_. You are now alone in your head. I wish I could promise you that nothing will happen to you again. I can’t.”

He looked at Rodney. “You will need to find a way to move forward. Whether that’s talking to someone, although probably not Kate under the circumstances; walling it way never to be examined again; or something in between is up to you.

“I can’t promise you forever but I can make this one. I can watch over your sleep tonight. I can protect you this once. Nothing short of the destruction of the city will be a problem tonight. I will wake you if there is anything wrong. I will protect you from the monsters in the dark, I know their names and they won’t bother me.” He smiled over his shoulder.

“Go to sleep Rodney. It won’t all be better in the morning but morning will come.”

Rodney nodded and the two men shifted so that Walker was back against the wall with Rodney’s radio in hand and Rodney was lying down with his head on a denim clad thigh. Then Rodney did the thing he never thought he would do again.

He slept.

**Author's Note:**

> Watching Duet creeps me out. The best view you can put on Cadman's appropriation of Rodney's body is joy-riding. Using it to kiss Carson was just sexual assault! It's fine to squee at what you see but it should still be recognised that her behaviour was unacceptable from screaming to be paid attention to when Rodney was trying to start work on fixing the problem onwards.


End file.
